Choice and Duration of Antimicrobial Therapy for Neonatal Sepsis and Meningitis

Table 1

Randomized controlled trials on empirical antimicrobial therapy for suspected early-onset sepsis.

Author	Population	Antibiotics used	Duration of treatment	Outcomes	Result
Snelling et al.,; 1983 [19]	55 neonates <48 hours old with suspected sepsis	Ceftazidime (𝑛=31) versus gentamicin plus benzyl penicillin (𝑛=24)	48 hours if culture was sterile. 7 days if culture was positive or infant symptomatic	Mortality, treatment failure, bacteriological resistance	Ceftazidime is good as penicillin and gentamicin
Miall-Allen et al., 1988 [20]	72 neonates <48 hours old with suspected sepsis	Timentin (ticarcillin + clavulanic acid) (𝑛=32) versus piperacillin ± gentamicin (𝑛=40)	Variable based on clinical and bacterial remission. Maximum 10 days	Mortality, treatment failure, bacteriological resistance	No difference in mortality or treatment failure
Metsvaht et al., 2010 [21]	283 neonates <72 hours old with suspected sepsis	Ampicillin + gentamicin (𝑛=142) versus penicillin + gentamicin (𝑛=141)	Not specified	Treatment failure (defined as need for a change in the initial antibiotic regimen within 72 h and/or 7-day all-cause mortality)	No difference in treatment failure or mortality rate between the two regimens